Eye of the Storm
by Amberlin
Summary: Another Jack and Bootstrap story, same universe as my other stories. Barbossa's in this one.


The ship rocked gently as the young man lifted the diamond necklace to examine it in the light of the moon. 

Captain Jack Sparrow was more than a little disappointed at the quality of the spoils they had happened upon. The occupants of this ship were not what anyone could call wealthy and Sparrow was now concerned that they had wasted valuable time raiding it.

He sighs as he drops the necklace back onto the table top and turns to face his captives. The weeping had died down amongst the people tied together but their eyes followed Jack wherever he went, waiting for the worst.

He eyed them critically, wondering if it would be wise to reassure them that he would leave them unharmed.

As he was contemplating this option, he noticed one of the women averting her gaze. Watching his feet as he sauntered over to her, he could see her breathing quicken. Raising her face so that he could look into her eyes, he saw exactly what he expected.

She was hiding something.

Jack's first thought was of jewelry. He'd come across women before who vainly tried to conceal that one valuable or sentimental piece. He could always tell which ones they were.

He opened his mouth to ask her about the hiding place when the door behind him burst open.

"Jack!"

Startled, Sparrow turned to face his subordinate and his best friend.

"Good lord Billy! Ya trying to give me a heart attack!"

The slightly older man took a moment to catch his breath, "Something's happened sir."

Jack let go of the woman's chin, a frown appearing for a second on his dark face. "What is it, mate? Someone fall overboard?"

Bill shook his head in response. Taking a deep breath he stuttered, "There was ... a girl Cap'n. Barbosa ..."

"A girl?"

A nod.

"Hiding?" Another nod.

Jack slowly swiveled his head around to look back at the now crying woman.

How could he be so stupid?

He was up and out of the door in a flash, ignoring his friend's pleas to listen to him before he went to the upper deck. He was completely unprepared for the sight that assaulted his eyes when he reached it. The crew stood expectantly; apparently aware of the Captain's arrival despite the fact that none would look at him.

The crew wasn't the first thing that Jack saw, though. In the middle of the deck, her dress slightly askew, laid a young girl ... stabbed through the heart. Blood pooled beneath her head and shouldes, as if she were laying on a silk crimson sheet.

Jack inched closer, not bothering to keep up his cool facade.

It was a ghastly sight; blood running down her dress and out of her mouth.

Jack tried to find his tongue.

"Who did it?" His voice was hoarse and intimidating.

His first mate stepped up. "Sir," he began, his head lowered guiltily, "I am responsible Cap'n."

Jack turned his glare to him.

"It was an accident sir," Barbossa continued, "I heard her behind me, figured it was a man who escaped trying to take us by surprise."

Before Jack could reply a scoff was heard from behind him. Bill's voice was flat but undeniably accusatory. "If you believed it to be a man, why is the wound so low?"

All was silent for a minute. Barbossa finally responded, "I was aiming for the stomach, Billy."

"And why would you..."

Jack shook his head at the argument, cutting Bill off. "It was an accident." He looked Barbossa in the eye, "wasn't it?"

The sincere look that settled on Barbossa's face was good enough to fool anyone, except Bill. "Aye, sir. I would never disobey your orders."

Jack shifted uncomfortably as he resumed his stare at the still form at his feet. After what seemed like an eternity of awkward silence, he knelt down and, removing the sword from her chest, tenderly gathered the young girl into his arms.

Bill surmised now that she was even younger than he originally assumed. Her chest, which was now cradled lightly against Jack's, was flat and unwomanly. Her hands were small. Bill guessed she was about 9.

As Jack began his descent back to the room he came from, Bill shot Barbossa a fierce look before following his Captain.

Jack placed the young girl into the arms of the lady he had been prepared to interrogate. He didn't flinch as she started to sob. Releasing one of her arms, he guided her hand down to her daughter's face.

The proceeded slap was loud and hard enough to knock Jack backwards onto his behind. He left the room quickly after that, ordering Bill to find out the girls name and home port.

A few minutes later, when Bill made his way back up to the top deck, the crew had already boarded the Pearl, leaving Jack standing alone by the helm.

Bill went and stood by him, leaning over the side of the ship. Jack mimicked his action.

"Jack .," he began, "Barbossa .."

"It was an accident." The tone was brusque.

"Do you really believe that?"

"I have no reason not to. He's never done anything like that before."

"You don't see that there's something wrong about the whole thing?"

Jack sighed and began to dust his blood stained hands off. Bill watched him silently.

Thinking that his Captain was never going to answer him, Bill turned his attention to the other ship, watching as the crew sorted through the meager spoils.

"We're pirates William. These things happen sometimes."

"This is not why I became a pirate, Jack. This isn't what I wanted."

"What?"

"I didn't want to hurt people; that holds no appeal to me."

"Why did you become a pirate then?" There was a hint of bitterness in the usually jovial voice.

"To be .. free. You know? To see that stretch of the sea in front of me. To feel like.wherever I'm going, I'll never have to worry about getting there and having to turn back around. That's what a ship is, isn't it? Freedom."

Jack shrugged. "We all have our reasons."

"Is yours any different?"

Jack turned to face him, looking defensive, "You wanna know why I became a pirate? So that no one would ever be able to tell me what to do anymore. I'll never be anything less than a Captain because I can't bear someone making me do something I didn't choose to do myself. I grew tired of being pushed around a long time ago. That's the kind of freedom I've found. The sea and my ship don't control me, I control them."

"Jack, I think you should demote Barbossa. What happened tonight was no accident."

Jack stepped close to Bill's face; raising his hands up to gesture dramatically, he smiled, "See, there you go, trying to tell me what to do. If I'm correct, you don't have any right to do that."

There was a quick flash of regret in Jack's eyes after the words were out of his mouth, but it was smoothly covered over as he grabbed a loose rope and swung back to his Pearl, leaving Bill all by himself.

Bill took a moment to compose himself before boarding the Pearl after his friend. When he landed on deck, Jack had already called Barbossa to him and was now addressing him in front of the whole crew.

"You'll be swabbing the deck for the next few days."

"Swabbing the deck? Sir, with all due respect..I am the first mate."

"Aye, and apparently a careless one. Mistakes like that won't be tolerated anymore. You'll be swabbing until we reach the Isle De Muerta and I don't want to hear any complaining."

The crew had gone to sleep a few hours before, grumbling behind Jack's back the whole time.

Bill, unable to sleep, quietly made his way up to the large deck. He stopped short when he saw a lone figure sitting peacefully against the side of the large ship. Bill recognized the outline immediately.

Wandering across the moonlit floor of the ship he hovered above the figure for a moment. Two eyes regarded him in return.

Bill shifted uneasily. He had never fought with Jack before and now he didn't know if he was welcome to sit down.

Jack broke into a small grin and patted the floor next to him in an invitation. Bill let out a large breath and settled down comfortably next to his companion.

The silence was thick for awhile.

"Sorry mate." Jack was so quiet that Bill wondered for a second if he had imagined the statement.

"Already forgotten Cap'n."

Silence prevailed again.

"Do you hear her?"

Bill knew immediately who Sparrow was referring to. "Aye Cap'n."

"She's singing, she is."

"What are you doing out here Jack?"

"Looking at the stars."

"You do this every night?"

"Aye. I pick out shapes in the sky."

"Come again?"

Jack grinned roguishly and proceeded to show his good friend a particularly clear sword outlined by stars in the sky.

"See now? You can find anything up there."

Bill gazed at the shape for a second.

"Only you could think like that Jack." "Do you know how far away stars are Bill?"

"So far away that we could never reach them. Did you know stars are made of fire?"

"Wha'?"

"Yep. They're great big balls of fire hanging in the sky."

Jack whistled appreciatively. After a contemplative moment, he nudged Bill's side.

"You know I own one of them, right?"

Bill frowned, "And how did you manage that?"

Jack shrugged as if the answer were obvious, "I found one that I liked and then claimed it."

"That simple, eh?"

"Yep."

Bill's gaze returned to the expanse above. "Which one?"

Jack raised his hand to point into the distance. "That one right there. You see it?"

"Nah, which one?"

Jack sighed loudly, grabbing Bill's head good naturedly, he pulled it closer to his, hoping Bill could follow his gaze. "That one right there, you see it twinkling? One minutes its bright and brilliant and the next it's gone. See?"

"Aye. Good choice, reminds me of you. What did you name it?"

"Well, Jack, of course."

"Of course."

"Hey, doesn't that boy of yours turn 10 here soon?"

"Aye, in few days."

"You gonna send him something?"

"Don't know what to send him." Bill cocked his head at Jack, "aren't you gonna be 22 in a few days too?"

Jack frowned, obviously forgetting his own birthday. After some thought he smirked, "Aye, tomorrow actually. I'd completely forgotten."

"You and my son were born under the same stars."

"Aye. Born under THESE stars in fact. Kinda makes you feel small doesn't it?"

Bill merely nodded.

"Hey," Jack sat up as though an inspired idea had just occurred to him, "let's give your son a star."

At Bill's dubious expression, Jack patted his shoulder convincingly, "Come one mate, we can find one to fit him and name it after him. It'll be fun. Then we're always know, when we see that star, that it's his."

"You forget, Jack, I don't know anything about my son."

Jack waved his hand dismissively, "I can tell you what your son is like. Probably just like you."

"Really? And what am I like?"

"Steady. Strong. A little dull sometimes."

Jack chuckled when Bill punched his arm.

"And you stand out from everyone else," Jack continued, examining the sky, "so I think you should give him...that one." He pointed up and Bill could immediately see what he was directing his attention to.

A large, slightly red star stood amidst the twinkling canvas of sky.

"Name it William, Bill."

"Alright," Bill waved his hand around as if performing a magic trick, "I shall call it William. Done?"

"Done."

Bill felt a strange calmness come over him as he sat with Jack under his son's star. He wondered if Will could see it from wherever he was.

"What do you plan to do with that girls name Jack?" He hoped he wasn't ruining the moment by bringing up the ugly incident from earlier that night.

"I'll send them something. Maybe some of the treasure, a medallion maybe. Probably worth more than they've seen in their whole life. Can't think of anything else to do. Can't take something like that back."

"I didn't mean to make you upset Cap'n. I should have realized that it was bothering you as much as it was bothering me."

Jack didn't respond to the statement.

"Where did you learn that thing about the stars Bill?"

"What, lad?"

"How do you know they're made of fire?"

"Oh, some guys in Tortuga told me. He was drunk though."

"Ah.you know what some guy told me?"

"Nah, what?"

"He said that if you stand in the middle of a hurricane or typhoon, I mean, RIGHT in the middle, it will just swirl around you and you'll be fine."

"You serious?"

"Yep. At least that's what he said. Don't know if it's true or not. Seems like a good way to live your life though."

Bill shook his head in confusion, "Live your life? What are you rambling about?"

"I think, if you tried really hard, you could find a way where no matter what was happening around you, it never touched you. You just have to find the right place to stand, that's all."

"I don't think that's possible."

Jack shrugged.

Bill regarded him critically. "You're awfully philosophical for a pirate."

"Not a normal pirate now, am I? Neither are you, are you mate?"

"Aye, we got an advantage don't we? We can be anything we want to be when the situation calls for it."

"Aye, honest or dishonest, honorable or scheming, caring or dismissive, selfish or selfless."

"And, in your case, brilliant or daft."

A large grin spread across Jack's face, the moonlight hitting his gold teeth.

"Well, thank you very much, mate."


End file.
